Odd parts certainly increased in the new millenium. The oddest I ever received were two arches from a Bionicle brick-set that I only got for parts anyhow. New dark grey arches (2x8) that appeared to have pearl or silver dripped and then spun into them as though both had been whirled upon their sides around an axis and the center. Very odd indeed. Most other problems I've encountered have been incomplete filling of brick molds and overflow.

It's really good news for the quality of bricks and there were evidence things were moving to this direction since they took over the Czech factory in just in 2008 (in the Sustainability report 2007).

I just hope they can financially cope with the 2000+ employees they acquired (I conclude this from the press release and the annual 2007 report). But since they seem to be doing careful steps lately, I guess they know what they are doing

Teherean wrote:I can't do else but to cheer with the rest! will this mean that lego's also gonna be cheaper? because it is very expensive here in the netherlands.

I wouldn't count on it.
And actually compared to some places around us (Scandinavia and Turkey for example) our prices aren't so bad here in the Netherlands. Some German toystores are cheaper than ours but that's because there's more competition among German toystore holders.
Other than that I think only the Americans get stuff cheaper than we do, which of course is related to the Dollar vs Euro course, so I don't think we can really complain about the prices.

Between plotting to kill you all and chasing balls of yarn, I also build MOCs

I don't think that outsourcing the production of LEGO will make it cheaper. The idea of outsourcing is to lower the company's costs, such as wages and overhead, while still selling the product for the same price so they can earn more money.

ottoatm wrote:VERY good news! Things just keep getting better and better for us!

That is an understatement, Quilly. Things are getting ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL for us! I am saving up for the entire Kingdoms line, which is a fantastic theme, and now we hear this news. Hallelujah! I have experienced this Flextronic problem in a few Bionicle sets: the joints break. LEGO always makes better products when they make it themselves.

"There are two powers in this world, the sword and the pen; and in the end the former is always conquered by the latter"- Napoleon Bonaparte